Friday, July 03, 2009

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"Branca's Bullpen" New York Mets Pre-Game Show?

Over the weekend I finally finished the book "The Echoing Green" which is about the New York Giants (you know the team with the NY that played in the Polo Grounds, won 10 pennants but nobody mentions) and in the book they referenced "Branca's Bullpen?"

Anyone know anything?


The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca ... - Google Books Result

by Joshua Prager - 2008 - Sports & Recreation - 498 pages
Branca had in winter left TV station WOR, let lapse both his job with Cosell and Branca's Bullpen, a Met pregame show he had hosted in 1963. ...



Faith & Fear mentioned it too...

Faith and Fear in Flushing :: The Summer Wind

In 1963, Ralph Branca hosted "Branca's Bullpen" which went on prior to the pre-game Kiner's Korner. In 1964, Branca's show was replaced by "Dow ...

Which brings me to two additional points:

1.  Have something for Ralph Kiner at Citi Field while he's still around.
2.  SNY should show some old Kiner's Korners.   I mean OLD.  I wanna see some 60's/70's if any exist.


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1 Response to ""Branca's Bullpen" New York Mets Pre-Game Show?"
BillPilgrim said :
July 3, 2009 at 12:45 PM
I could not find anything about a television pre-game show, but in the book "The New York Mets - 25 Years of Baseball Magic" by Jack Lang and Peter Simon, it mentions that Branca had a pre-game radio program, at least in 1964. At the end of the 1964 season, there was talk of getting rid of Stengel. Howard Cosell was speaking out against Stengel at the time. The book says, "Cosell did a pre-game radio show with ex-Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca and was openly critical of Stengel's strategy."
There is no mention of Branca in my 1963 or 1965 Mets Yearbooks. I don't have the 1964 yearbook.

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